Yesterday, L’Oréal released its financial report for the first half of 2024. The report shows strong performance for the first half of this year, with sales reaching 22.12 billion euros, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 7.3% and a reported growth of 7.5%. This performance indicates that the company continues to lead the global beauty market across all divisions, particularly driven by Dermatological Beauty and Consumer Products. Notably, L’Oréal Luxe experienced accelerated growth over the past two quarters.
Europe and emerging markets achieved double-digit growth, while North America maintained a steady pace throughout the first half. The growth was balanced between value and volume, with significant progress both online and offline.
Commenting on these figures, L’Oréal Group CEO Nicolas Hieronimus emphasized the balanced growth in value and volume, reinforcing L’Oréal’s global leadership in the dynamic beauty market. He highlighted the company’s success in emerging markets, Europe, and North America, which offset the challenges in the mainland China beauty market and the unfavorable comparison in travel retail. Hieronimus also pointed out the importance of the company’s innovation and marketing creativity, enabling them to offer groundbreaking products and outperform the global beauty market.
By segment, the Professional Products Division recorded sales of 2.427 billion euros in the first half, with a year-on-year growth of +5.7% and reported growth of +4.9%. The division continues to expand through its omnichannel strategy, significantly accelerating e-commerce and selective distribution. In the dynamic haircare market, growth was driven by new product launches: Kérastase Première had an excellent start, and L’Oréal Professionnel Absolut Repair Molecular continued its successful rollout. L’Oréal stated that Professional Products grew across all regions: developed markets (including North Asia and China) and emerging markets (notably the GCC4 countries and Latin America), outpacing the global professional market.
In the second half of the year, the Professional Products Division will introduce the AirLight Pro hair dryer, further expanding its presence in the hair device market, reinforcing its commitment to bringing cutting-edge technology and innovation to the professional haircare industry.
The Consumer Products Division achieved sales of 8.322 billion euros in the first half, with strong growth of +8.9% year-on-year and reported growth of +8.3%. This performance strengthened the division’s strategy of democratization and premiumization, driven by a combination of price and mix while maintaining positive volumes.
Growth was particularly strong in Europe and emerging markets, including Brazil, Mexico, and India. All major brands made significant progress, with L’Oréal Paris, the world’s number one beauty brand, continuing to grow in double digits.
All categories remained dynamic, driven by powerful innovations and activations. The Elvive Glycolic Gloss haircare brand achieved great success. Makeup saw double-digit growth due to new launches like L’Oréal Paris Panorama mascara, NYX Professional Makeup Duck Plump lip gloss, and Maybelline New York’s Sunkisser blush. Skincare remained vibrant, with Garnier promoting daily use of UV fluids, L’Oréal Paris launching Bright Reveal for dark spots, and Mixa successfully expanding in Europe.
L’Oréal Luxe posted sales of 7.579 billion euros in the first half, with a +2.3% year-on-year increase and a +4.0% reported growth. The European market saw robust growth, with double-digit growth in North America and emerging markets. L’Oréal Luxe outperformed the luxury beauty market in these regions. In mainland China, despite challenging market conditions, the division gained market share; travel retail in North Asia showed signs of improvement, and Japan remained dynamic.
Fragrances were the most dynamic category, with strong performances from brands like Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino, Maison Margiela, and Prada. Makeup rebounded due to innovations from Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, and Urban Decay. Aesop continued its expansion, and other recently acquired brands remained vibrant.
The Dermatological Beauty Division reported sales of 3.793 billion euros in the first half, with a year-on-year growth of +16.4% and a reported growth of +15.5%, outperforming the dermo-cosmetics market. Despite a slowdown in the US market, the division maintained strong momentum, validating its successful growth strategy supported by medical leadership and a strong R&I foundation.
Both developed and emerging markets, as well as North Asia, achieved double-digit growth. In mainland China, the division made significant progress with SkinCeuticals and CeraVe.
La Roche-Posay remained the top growth contributor, driven by the success of MelaB3 for localized pigmentation issues. CeraVe continued to outperform the global market, while Vichy maintained double-digit growth supported by the success of its Dercos haircare franchise. Skinbetter Science sustained strong momentum in the US and showed promising growth in Canada.
Regionally, L’Oréal noted that operating conditions in the Chinese ecosystem remain challenging. In the first half of 2024, North Asia achieved sales of 5.475 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of -1.7% and a reported decrease of -3.1%. In mainland China, the beauty market performed weakly in the second quarter, with consumer confidence remaining low, exacerbating the weak market base. The Luxe Division was impacted by the sluggish market in mainland China and travel retail but performed well in other parts of the region; couture brands performed the best.
In the first half of the year, L’Oréal achieved low single-digit growth and gained market share, driven by Dermatological Beauty, Professional Products, and record-setting performance from L’Oréal Luxe.
Although travel retail still weighed on growth in the first half, its momentum has been improving quarter by quarter. Japan benefited from the recovery in tourism, maintaining double-digit growth.
Driven by strong performances in the Germany-Austria-Switzerland, Spain-Portugal, and UK-Ireland clusters, European sales reached 7.283 billion euros in the first half, with a year-on-year increase of +11.1% and a reported growth of +12.2%.
In North America, sales were 5.798 billion euros in the first half, with a year-on-year growth of +7.8% and a reported growth of +8.7%, driven by Dermatological Beauty and L’Oréal Luxe.
In SAPMENA-SSA, sales were 1.884 billion euros in the first half, with a year-on-year growth of +15.2% and a reported growth of +14.3%, driven by strong performances in Australia-New Zealand, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and India.
In Latin America, sales were 1.68 billion euros in the first half, with a year-on-year growth of +14.2% and a reported growth of +15.8%, driven by significant contributions from Mexico and Brazil.
